Hard Knocks’ drama comes in cuts of Bobo Wilson, Jeremy McNichols

Posted by Charean Williams on September 5, 2017, 11:37 PM EDT

Getty Images

Hard Knocks ended its filming Sunday, the day after final cuts, and the best drama the season finale offered came on the practice squad as the Buccaneers tried to fill their 10-player roster. The Bucs offered practice squad spots to receiver Bobo Wilson and running back Jeremy McNichols, among others.

But Wilson was home in Miami when director of football operations Shelton Quarles called him despite receiving instructions from coach Dirk Koetter a day earlier to stay in town. Wilson, a voice over says, “has youth on his side, but he doesn’t yet have a pro’s sense of responsibility. It seems Bobo has gone bye-bye.”

“Are you kidding me?” General Manager Jason Licht said when informed Wilson was out of town.

Licht said it “might be the last straw” before reconsidering. “I want to make a rational decision here, and not a [knee-jerk decision],” Licht said.

The Bucs gave Wilson an ultimatum: Be in the team training facility at 1 p.m. Sunday or don’t come back.

“I’m going to tell Bobo we want you on the practice squad; we want to work with you,” Koetter said. “But if you don’t change your attitude, you won’t make it anywhere. I’m going to tell him straight up: If he doesn’t change, he doesn’t have a chance. If he hesitates at all on coming back, then I’m going to say we’ll take [Donteea Dye].”

Wilson, who played with quarterback Jameis Winston at Florida State, made it back in the nick of time to sign his practice squad contract.

McNichols, though, spurned the Bucs after initially telling Koetter he wanted to stay on the team’s practice squad.

“McNichols got his feelings hurt,” Licht said after McNichols chose the 49ers over the Bucs’ offer. “If he’s going to mope and complain about being taken out of the game when he just made one mistake. I mean, we don’t want that kind of [expletive] anyway.”

Ajayi whines, gets left home for first game at Seattle. Comes out and has a decent season. McNichols whines and gets cut, his play did stink and a bad attitude for a 5th rounder is not a good look. Two BSU backs that came out early with similar attitude issues. See if the second one can figure it out.

So he doesn’t want a 5th round pick who moped and complained but he DOES want a UDFA who did nothing but whine about everything throughout the entirety of training camp. Why doesn’t he just admit that talent is all that matters? As it should, by the way.

Bobo Wilson is just walking negativity. The Bucs must see something in him I don’t. Yes, he had ONE good game in preseason, playing against another’s team third string. However, his constant bad attitude and selfishness will do nothing but create a toxic environment for whoever is around him. My gut tells me he won’t finish the season with the Bucs and will never play another down in the NFL. Great talent wasted by poor attitude.

Bobo actually seemed put out to have to sign his practice squad papers. Didn’t seem appreciative at all. I employ a lot of people with that same attitude….but they make $8 an hour. Didn’t expect to see the same display from someone getting ready to join a pro football team.

These NFL teams want to blame the players for attitude, when most of these teams are run very unprofessionally and very much with intimidation and an extremely high degree of fear and threats and warnings!!!!! What a horrible culture to thrive in. You do get periods of high performance, but threats and such are not a way to thrive and consistently get the highest degree of play.

For example, when I see young kids on the basketball court and neighborhood football field, I see most of them “trying things” that are higher level and is the number one thing that has elevated both games professionally to its current level. Not these team threats. They only serve to make a player afraid of making mistakes-and we know what that does to a person. The crossover, ally oop, three point shot perfection, look away fade passes, the mobile and running QB, Odell Beckham’s famous one-handed catches while laying out, ALL originated in a culture where there was no fear or threats, right? I think there is something there these NFL brickheads do not yet understand. All they do is yell standard mechanics, footwork, as IF, that is the only way to greatness. Odell Beckham and a thousand other of the greatest athletes, i.e Steph Curry and his mastery of the three point shot (once considered low percentage shot by the pro’s), Magic Johnson and the look-away pass (in stead of the fundamental “chest pass” IS WHAT HAS MADE THOSE PROFESSIONAL SPORTS GREAT AND ENTERTAINING! And those type things don’t develop well under high level THREATENING conditions. Somebody needs to train these guys.

You can tell who’s never been in a locker room before. Bobo is a competitor bar none. Like most professional athletes, he butts heads with coaches, but that’s the nature of competition and honestly, most teams love a player like that. You know you’re going to get a guy who loves the game and will do anything to be out there and compete, that’s a rare quality. He’s gonna be on a roster in this league. Guys like that who love to compete and will give everything to be on the field are always valued. In the case of McNichols, he’s gotta have thicker skin if he wants to last. He’s young and got his ego got hurt, which probably hasn’t happened in a long time, but he can use this as a learning process.